Open Forest Day June 25, 2016: a great event

The poster invited you to…” Walk the woodland trails and open your eyes to Nova Scotia’s natural resources, all the while enjoying family fun! Learn how our natural resources are cared for and how you could benefit from having your own woodlot. Along the trail, you’ll find interactive displays about wildlife, biodiversity and the role our natural resources play in our economy, the environment, and our health.” It would include Information Booths, Passport to Nature, Canoeing,Drumming, Hiking, Face Painting. The event was held at Shubie Park in Dartmouth, which is a treat on its own. I arrived at opening time and spent two hours visiting all 33 exhibits, in the process walking about 4 km as the exhibits were distributed along the trail that runs beside the Shubie Canal.

Will Martin talks about the innovative WoodsCamp technology at Open Forest Day

The exhibits represented all facets of forestry in Nova Scotia – and perspectives. There was something for everybody. I even learned how to pan for gold! At one exhibit Will Martin talked about the innovative WoodsCamp technology. Will & Co. have been described as operating “an ethical business because it is a rural company that aims to help families retain their woodlots and manage and harvest them responsibly.” (See C-H article.) Down the trail was an exhibit by Port Hawkesbury Paper. Pointing to maps of their extensive crown land leases, they told me that Port Hawkesbury Paper gets a bad rap about their forestry practices but that they actually take only one cubic meter per hectare from those lands. “You mean the equivalent of about one tree like that?”, I asked pointing to a yellow birch about 12″ dbh. “Yes”. ‘Not sure what to make of it. There were lots of conservation oriented exhibits. MTRI was giving out swamp milkweed seedlings that [once grown up] would attract Monarch Butterflies, and you could have come away with a small forest with all of the tree seedlings being given away. The Mi’kmaw were well, even if minimally represented given their 4000 year history on the Shubenacadie waterway: Alfred Carter showed how he makes traditional drums & Roger Lewis talked about Mi’kmaw history. Shubie Park was in its full glory. A couple of hours well spent. Thanks for this one, Natural Resources and exhibitors.